


Colors

by MythicalCatie



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Fluff, M/M, college!rhink, teen!rhink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-05-05
Packaged: 2019-05-02 09:08:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14541402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MythicalCatie/pseuds/MythicalCatie
Summary: All of his life, Rhett McLaughlin has only wanted one thing. But, as his best friend and soulmate Link Neal says, "The universe is cruel, bo. Some people just don't get their happy endings."





	Colors

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my ever lovely Emily for beta reading this. I couldn't have posted it this soon without your help, love!

Most people don’t know the tint of a rose until they’re twenty, thirty, or maybe even forty years old. They can’t recognize the many gorgeous, varying hues of sunsets, and they don’t have their breath taken away by the deep blue sea.

Some people wait their entire lives to appreciate a rainbow, and there are even a few that die without ever knowing anything more than a grey-scale existence.  

Until they meet the one that can show them all of the wonders of the world, they only hear about them from those who have already found that person for themselves. Those who’d already witnessed such gorgeous things in the way that they had truly intended to be seen. But even still, no mere tale, no matter how intricately woven and painstakingly detailed, could ever coming close to experiencing _color_ for oneself, especially for the very first time.

Rhett McLaughlin was one of the few elite who knew color before they could fully grasp how to tie their own shoes.

The day had started as any other before it. He’d woken up, he’d gotten changed out of pajamas into his day clothes (he couldn’t tell, but his mother said when she bought it that it was a pretty shade; he just had to take her word for it, he supposed), and he’d gone downstairs for breakfast. His father had left for work by then, so he was joined by his mother and older brother at the table. He’d eaten his pancakes and eggs, he’d raced upstairs to brush his teeth before coming back down, and he’d followed his family out the door. It was just like last year, Diane told him, except this time, he and Cole would be going to a different school and would have different teachers than they did the grade before.

Yes, all of those changes were a bit scary, but that was okay with Rhett. A new town and a new school meant an opportunity to make new friends, and new friends were always a good thing. He was willing to bear a little bit of fear if it meant that he had somebody fun to play with at recess when all was said and done. Besides, if things got too rough, he could just visit Cole in third grade. He’d always made things okay before; this would be the same, he was sure.

* * *

He met his new teacher, Ms. Locklear, at the classroom door. He was the last in a line of twenty to shake her hand before entering the space in a single file line along with the other first-grade students.

Buies Creek Elementary wasn’t like his last school. Here, everybody had their own desks instead of sitting four to a table. Each student’s desk was labeled with their name, she said, and that should be easy enough, but if you needed help finding the one that belonged to you, just ask.

Rhett knew how to spell his own name, and how to read it, too. His Mama’d taught him that last year, so he didn’t need Ms. Locklear to show him which desk was his. He could find it all by himself.

The only problem was that one of his classmates was a bit over-eager to find his own workspace and tumbled right into Rhett in the process of trying.

They were both knocked flat on their behinds, and the other boy was apologizing immediately once he realized that he had toppled over one of his classmates during his (albeit very important) quest.

It was okay, of course, Rhett was planning to say. Accidents happened and he was excited, too. And by the way, what was your name and did you maybe want to be my new best friend?

Instead, he got halfway through his sentence before he looked up from the floor and his mouth failed him. Being a typical six year old, Rhett hardly ever stopped talking. The only time anybody around him was guaranteed any semblance of peace was when he was asleep, and sometimes not even then. But here, today, staring into this boy’s eyes that were what his father would later tell him was called “blue”, he couldn’t say a thing.  

The rest of the boy slowly filled in as the moments passed, the shape of him turning from dull tones into vibrant ones like crayons filling in lines on pages, but Rhett hardly noticed. He could only remain fixated on the now-lively irises that were the first to show him what everybody had been talking about for as long as he could remember. Even as they filled with concern, his emotional overdrive wouldn’t allow him to pay any mind. They were so… so… **beautiful**!

Just as they were beautiful, they were everything. He’d see this same color everywhere he looked from now on. It was the color of the sky, of the sea, of life itself. It was as if the entire world was right there in front of him, staring back at him in the form of what might as well have been thimble-sized eyes. It was hard for him to believe, especially because he was under the impression that this day, this **experience** , was still years or possibly even decades off. He was so lucky!

He simply couldn’t look away from him, and it was starting to freak the poor kid that they belonged to out. He didn’t even notice until he heard the boy say, “Are you okay?”

Rhett blinked rapidly in response, quickly shaking his head as if that would clear his thoughts and allow him to form an intelligible sentence. Though it took another moment, he thankfully got there before the boy was frightened enough to get up and tell the teacher. “Do you see it too?!” he blurted, his excitement causing him to burst at the seams. Gosh, he hoped he did, too. Then they could be happy together, just like the fairytales. It would be amazing! “Do you?!” He couldn’t wait to tell Cole. He’d be so excited!

Though he could see that the blond in front of him was clearly overjoyed about **something,** the black-haired boy couldn’t for the life of him figure out what. Nothing had changed. The only thing that had happened was he had bumped into him and knocked him down. How was that exciting?

“No, I’m sorry,” he apologized, proper in the way that his Mama had told him to do in a situation where he didn’t see or understand something that another person had said was there. However, _this_ classmate of his was particularly excited, so the child hated to risk hurting his feelings by telling him that he didn’t see whatever was getting him so riled up. “What do you see?”

Rhett wanted to jump up and scream because he was so frustrated that this kid couldn’t see what was right in front of him, of **them**. How could he not see it?! “Color!” he squeaked, shaking his open hands at him, palms up. “You’re my soulmate! I’ve found you!” Whatever his name was, he was there.

The words that Rhett spoke now were something of magic words, seeing as they attracted the attention of the entire class, Ms. Locklear the person most drawn to the conversation taking place. A first grader, one of **her** first-graders, finding his soulmate? Rhett had to be the youngest person she’d ever known (and she was very lucky to witness the moment herself) to find their soulmate. It was a truly wonderful thing.

It didn’t take long for a crowd to gather around the pair, resulting in them being enclosed in a circle of giggly classmates and a teacher who was riding a rollercoaster of bittersweet emotions. Everybody there was witnessing a magic moment, magic itself. Something like this was so rare that it couldn’t be guaranteed that they’d never see it again in their lifetimes.  

“Oh…” the boy said, and he didn’t sound nearly as amped. He wasn’t. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m yours.”

* * *

It took Rhett until the next day to discover, but he soon learned that his soulmate’s name was Link Neal. Well, it was Charles Neal, but they called him Link because his dad was a Charles, too.

He had had to take the rest of the first day of first grade off to recover from what had been the biggest event of his life thus far. He could still remember, as clear as day, running to his big brother’s class in tears after staring at Link, stunned, for what felt like hours, but was likely only seconds. He could remember sobbing to Cole about how he was not the soulmate of _his_ soulmate, how his life was ruined forever because his soulmate didn’t love him back. How he, at the ripe age of six, hated his life because he’d never achieve true happiness. He remembered being destroyed, and being held. Held tight as Cole’s teacher called their mother to come and pick Rhett up. How all the way home, he still couldn’t calm down. How he didn’t feel right for days. But he overcame that.

Once he started to feel normal again, once he adjusted to a life full of vibrant hues, he spoke to Link again. Not as his soulmate. Not as somebody who was supposed to love him for all eternity. No. Somebody, some poor kid trying to hold back the tears threatening to well up in his eyes as he anticipated rejection, who just wanted to be his friend. Even if they weren’t going to fall in love and get married and live happily ever after, Rhett would still be grateful to have the chance to try his hand at having the boy as his best friend. Even that much would be good enough for him. And, thankfully, Link thought so, too. So, the pair played at recess that day, and the rest, as they say, was history.

Now, they were nineteen and roommates in college at NC State University. At his father’s behest, Rhett applied to study to become a civil engineer, and Link followed suit by majoring in industrial, not wanting to leave his best friend to attend another college, especially with the possibility of said college being states or even a coast away. However, both of them saw getting their degrees as a time killer, a fall back at best. They had bigger plans than sitting in cubicles for the rest of their lives.

They enjoyed their life together. Even if Rhett wasn’t Link’s soulmate, he was still his forever love. It was just in a different way. They loved each other like **brothers**.

It wasn’t about passion and fire, about heated kisses and sex under the sheets. It wasn’t about wedding bells and baby strollers. It wasn’t about **romance**.

It was about cuddles and hot chocolate by fires, about inside jokes that only they knew. It was falling over laughing and quoting the same movies. It was about shedding each other’s tears, about knowing exactly when it was time to give the perfect hug. It was about dancing in the rain and accidentally slipping into the other boy’s dry clothes when they were done. It was about knowing each other’s coffee order, about both trying to surprise each other with that same coffee at the same time. It was knowing everything about each other, but still being able to tell secrets. It was about being able to get into each other’s heads, about knowing what the other was thinking before he said it. It was about being **family**.

They had enough. What they had was special, and it would be enough. After what they’d learned over the years, what they knew, what they **built** , this was enough. Anything else was simply icing on an already sweet cake. Besides, soulmates were for losers, anyway. Rhett didn’t need to be it for Link. Whoever he ended up with would be okay. Or, at least, that’s what Rhett had convinced himself.

He was laying in his bunk when it happened, pretending to study some textbook or another. He wasn’t sure what audience he was performing for.

Link practically burst into their dorm that night, the biggest smile on his face. Wider than Rhett had ever seen on him. If he had to say, he’d bet it was the size of the moon. He was smiling, and there was a gleam in his mesmerizing blue eyes that Rhett could swear to high Heaven he recognized even despite the fact that he’d never seen it before.  

“What’s got you so giddy?” Rhett questioned, his Southern drawl thick. “Win the lottery or somethin’, buddyroll?”

“You could say that,” Link responded, bounding in and tossing his coat off and over a chair. Rhett was afraid that his face would split in two because his grin was so big. “I saw it, Rhett. I saw it!” Link didn’t look at him. Rhett wondered why.

“Saw what? Why aren’t you lookin’ at me?” If he wasn’t so smiley, the blond would be worried. Link only didn’t look at him when something was wrong. But nothing could be wrong **now** , could it? He seemed so happy! Then again, if he was, why were his eyes glued to the carpet? “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s perfect, Rhett. I mean, I saw **it**. How could I not be okay?”

Rhett could feel his heart sinking into his stomach. Based on the fact that he was expected to just know that “it” was, he could figure out exactly what Link meant. “Did you meet your soulmate, Link?”

He spoke quietly, his voice almost a whisper. It was as if he thought that if he said it any louder, it would feel real, **be** real. It couldn’t be, could it? Link was so young! Then again, so was he when he found his. He just expected he’d have more time with him before…

“Yeah,” Link confirmed, and Rhett felt his same heart stop. “Her name’s Christy and she’s beautiful, Rhett. You’ve gotta see her so you can tell me what colors she is. I don’t know the names of em. Would you do that for me? Please?”

“Of course, bo,” Rhett promised, forcing a smile. He didn’t want this to hurt. “Wanna tell me about her? Where did you meet her?”

Link was obviously grateful for the opportunity to ramble about his soulmate, and ramble he did. He started with, “I meet her at the roller rink. I walked up to her and asked her if she wanted me to show her how to skate, and then she looked at me and all the grey started going away, but I couldn’t focus on anything else that was turning to color. All I could see was her, Rhett. She’s so gorgeous,” but that wasn’t all. He continued for what really did feel like hours, and was likely pretty close, but it wasn’t long before Link’s words melted into white noise in Rhett’s head.

Link had found his soulmate, and she wasn’t him. Link would never love him the same way again because he had her to love more, now. Things would never be the same.

It wasn’t that Rhett wasn’t happy for Link. He was. In fact, he was actually excited in some cases. For example, he couldn’t wait to show Link his first full-color sunrise. He was on the edge of his seat for an opportunity to follow along with some silly Bob Ross painting, for Christ’s sake. Those damn things had all the colors under the big, bright, yellow sun. Rhett was happy for him. He had found his true love. But he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that there wasn’t a part of him, a big part, that hoped he never had.

Even if he had somehow managed to push the pipe dream to the back of his mind, a little piece of Rhett had hoped that it was all a mistake he _wasn’t the soulmate of Charles Lincoln Neal III._ He hoped that there had been an innocent mix-up, that it was just an accident. That one day, he’d wake up, look Rhett in the eyes, and notice that they were as green as grass. He never did, but he could still hold out that hope because all Link ever saw was grey. But now that he had seen the world for what it really was, all of Rhett’s hope was gone. There was nothing left for him except for being with Link, but knowing with every certainty that he could never have him the way he should.

He felt so broken that he couldn’t even ask for a second time why Link wouldn’t look at him.

* * *

“Rhett?” Link asked, concern in his eyes as he stopped his story dead. The older boy hadn’t responded in quite some time, and though it took Link awhile to notice, it worried him all the same. “Are you okay?”

Rhett still didn’t answer, staring into Link’s big, blue eyes while gazing into space at the same time. What God would be so cruel as to give Link a different soulmate?

It was only when Link exclaimed, “Rhett!” and gave a shove in his general direction, luckily catching his bicep, that he blond gave a response.

“Hm?!” he questioned in return, startling at the push that Link had given him. “What? Did something happen?” His voice was cracking; it was subtle, but Link could hear it.

“ _Yeah_ , something happened.” Link was wondering whether or not to make eye contact. Did he really this to be the time that he saw Rhett in his all of his glory? “You stopped listenin’ to me a long time ago, man. I thought you wanted to hear about her.”

Rhett shook his head to try to get the fog to leave it. It wasn’t going, and all he was left with was a black cloud of unanswered questions and _what if_ s. “I did. I want to hear about her. I’m sorry I blacked out there. Keep goin’.” Maybe he’d be able to pick up the pieces of what he had missed when Link continued.

The dark-haired boy’s expression at his light-haired counterpart’s comment, which the latter only caught some of seeing as Link still stared at the carpet, was in a way that told him he was wondering if he had grown three heads when he uttered that response. How could he keep talking when something was obviously wrong? “No, Rhett. I don’t want to talk anymore. I want you to tell me what the matter is.”

“I don’t want to discuss it,” Rhett said. All he wanted to do was curl up and cry himself to sleep.

“Well, I want to hear it,” Link stated, his tone firm, continuing to argue with himself as to whether or not it was worth it to make eye contact _now_. “I’m worried about you, man.”

“It’s nothing. Really,” Rhett sighed, almost growling. He couldn’t tell Link that there was a part of him that **hated** the fact that he had found a girl, found **the** girl, that lit his whole world up. Rhett not supporting Link could really hurt him, and the last thing that Rhett wanted to do was upset the boy he loved. Hurt _his_ **soulmate’s** heart. Even if they weren’t each other’s, it would still be wrong to break him that way. “Just drop it. Please. It’s not important.”

Link was never one to give up easily, especially when his best friend was in pain. “No, Rhett. I want to fix whatever’s wrong. I know something’s bothering you, and I want to help you.”

“No.” Rhett repeated, more firmly this time, hoping that Link would back off. He could feel anger boiling up inside of him, but he didn’t want to let it out. If he could avoid it, he would. Link was just trying to care about him, after all. “I don’t want to discuss it.”

“But-” the blue-eyed boy began, and the black and white one cut him off.

“I said **no,** Link. Please listen.” He was nearing the end of his rope of patience, and Link should know that. However, he had never been one to give up on Rhett.

“I just want to-” he tried again, and that was the final straw.

“I told you **no**!” he shouted, shooting out of bed and placing his feet on the floor. His eyes were like fire, but Link wouldn’t be able to see that even if he was looking. “You won’t answer my question, but you expect me to answer yours?! It’s none of your business what’s wrong, but since you can’t get that through your thick skull, I’m not gonna deal with it! Come find me when you’re ready to respect me!”

With that, and without even grabbing his jacket or keys or **anything** , Rhett stormed out.

Finally, as he shouted after him to just “wait! I’ll stop I swear! I’m sorry!” Link looked up, and his first vision at his best friend of thirteen years in all his colorful glory was the blue of his jeans as he walked away on a cold September night.

* * *

“I won’t ask you again,” Link said softly, his eyes tearful when Rhett finally walked back into their room at dawn. He’d been waiting up all night, hoping that he’d return. “You can have your secret, I’m sorry. I won’t bother you about it. Just… forgive me. Please.”

Rhett’s eyes were bloodshot, like he had been crying, too. Goosebumps were raised on his skin. He had been freezing outside all night in some park not far from their college, and it was clear that he needed to get under a blanket. Link wondered if that was the only reason he’d returned.

Rhett’s words came gently, a massive one-eighty from the tone and volume of his voice the night before. “It’s not you. It’s me. I’m… I’m fucked up, Link. It wasn’t your fault.”

The blond’s voice sounded, hollow, empty. As if he had given up on himself, on anything and everything. “Course I forgive you, cause you didn’t do anything wrong. You were worried. I can’t fault ya.”

“You’re not fucked up,” Link said sympathetically, pulling his blanket back. “You’re just cold. Come sit, bo.”

Link’s expression was inviting, and he seemed not to be upset over the events of the previous night, but Rhett still felt guilty accepting his offer. He had treated him so poorly. Why did he deserve to be cuddled to warmth?

“I don’t know…” Rhett mumbled, shifting on his feet and staring at the floor like a little kid who was getting chastised for doing wrong. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t have to,” Link told him, speaking as if it should have been obvious. It wasn’t. “I want to. C’mon, I wanna get a good look at your pretty face in color for the first time ever. I only saw the back of ya last night.”

Rhett shivered at “pretty”. Of course, Link thought that it was just a result of him being out in the chill, but it was actually the adjective that sent shocks down his spine. Best friends didn’t call best friends “pretty”. They were close, very much so, but they didn’t do _that._

He was reading too much into it. Let it go. It was just one word. It didn’t matter. “Are you sure?”

Link gave him that same look that he had the night before, the one that asked whether or not he had suddenly sprouted a second mouth where his eyes should have been. He should know the answer to that already. He didn’t. “Of course I’m sure, you dork.”

Rhett didn’t want another fight, especially not one like the night before. Besides, he knew that Link would never let him leave like that again today. He’d throw himself in front of the door to block him before he let him walk out. So, he just played Link’s game and walked over, turning on the light on his way over before crawling under the covers with him. “Okay.”

Rhett may have been taller, but Link was stronger and pilled the blond to his side with ease. “We can’t cuddle if I can’t reach you with a ten foot pole, man,” he laughed, his smile so… so… _pretty_. It was one of the big ones, the kind where Rhett was afraid that Link would split his face in half if he wasn’t careful. The kind where his teeth shone like the sun. The kind that made him weak. But, for what felt like the thousandth time in the past few hours, he had to remind himself that that pretty grin didn’t belong to him anymore. It never had.

Link wrapped his arms around Rhett, and the embrace was tight. Not in a way that constricted him or in a way that made him want out and right away, but in a way that made him feel safe and warmer already. “Now, let’s get a good look at you, hm? I’ve been waitin’ for this moment for a long, long time…”

Rhett lifted his face shyly, afraid to look Link in the eyes. Crying in front of him because he hated the fact that he didn’t mean it in the way he wanted when he examined and complimented his _pretty_ face… that was simply out of the question. “Make it quick, okay?” Rhett said, trying to offset the feelings flowing through him with a quick joke, if it could even be _called_ a joke. It was hardly funny. “I’m not a mannequin. Can’t stay totally still while you’re admirin’ me, Link.”

Link smiled, this one soft and subtle, and carefully slid his hand under Rhett’s chin. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you still.”

Rhett tried to stare at Link, to give him his full attention so that he could get the complete experience and see every detail that his face had, but it was hard to say the least. The color blue had haunted him for over a decade, and in that moment, there was nothing he could do to escape it.

“Your eyes are like Christy’s,” Link stated, and Rhett swore he could lose his stomach contents right then and there. “They’re the same color. What’s it called, Rhett?”

“Green,” Rhett said, forcing a smile onto his face, hoping it’d keep a sad expression from coming instead. “My eyes are green.”

* * *

 It didn’t take long for Link to find out how Rhett really felt about Christy, but he couldn’t say it came as a shock.

It was after their first real date. Link had traipsed in late and possibly just the slightest bit tipsy. Rhett had been in all night, and Link could tell before he even walked in the dorm. The walls were thin, after all.

Link was going to be considerate and leave the light off in case Rhett was asleep, but all bets were off when he heard a soft sobbing coming from his own bunk. What reason did Rhett have to be in his bed?

“Rhett?” Link asked rather loudly but still somehow gently. “What happened?”

Rhett shot up from his position curled up on the mattress when he heard Link’s voice, hitting his head on the bed-boards above him in the process. “Fuck!” he cried out, reaching up to rub the area that might or might not be bruised the next morning. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry,” he sniffled, using the hem off his tee shirt to wipe the tears off his face, the overhead light of the room illuminating the fact that he hadn’t been man enough to keep his emotions inside. “I’m okay.”  

“Then why are you crying in my bed?” Link asked, point blank, not prepared to take no answer as a response. He was tired of Rhett acting like this. Tired of not knowing what was going on. Tired of being kept in the dark when his friend was hurting. “What. is. the matter? You can tell me anything, Rhett. Please just let me know what’s going on.”

“I threw up in my bunk, so I laid down in yours.” They both knew that was only some of the truth. Rhett stood up from the bed, gesturing his arms in a way that offered it back to Link. “I’ll sleep on the floor tonight. Was just keeping it warm for you until you got back. ‘Ts all yours.”

Link’s concern, as well as his bewilderment, grew tenfold upon being given this news. Rhett could tell by the fact that when he said it, Link’s big blue eyes became even larger. “No way you’re sleeping on the floor, man. In fact, lie back down right now. Let me feel your temperature,” Link came close, completely ignoring the tear tracks (that was his next question), and put his hand on Rhett’s forehead and then his neck, just like his mother used to do whenever he was under the weather, and commented on what results he got from doing so. “You don’t feel warm… Did you eat something bad?”

That was it. That was his out. Rhett could plead food poisoning and fake the symptoms for a few days and then all would be normal again. It would work, and he thought about it for a good second or two. He really did. But he couldn’t. Lying to Link was against his nature, so his only option was to avoid the truth like Hell without actually telling any fibs.

The teenager shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I’m really okay. It must’ve just been a fluke.” And it was. He was never going to let that happen again.

Link squinted suspiciously, but he moved on. Maybe he could learn more by asking different questions. “Okay. But why were you crying? Was it from the throwing up?” He knew that he personally felt awful after vomiting. He certainly wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, but a part of him was also expecting a different answer. Rhett **had** been acting strange lately, after all.

“No, it wasn’t,” he said, and he couldn’t look Link in the eyes. “I don’t want to talk about it, man, okay?”

“No,” Link said slowly, drawing the word out way longer than necessary. “Not okay. I want to help, Rhett, but I can’t unless I know what happened.”

Link didn’t want another fight, and he knew he had to be careful with the words that he chose. But, then again, the words to set Rhett off could be any one of millions or more. **Comforting** words, words of _concern_ , may even be too much, and he couldn’t help but think of just how unfair that was. All he wanted to do was be a good friend. How was that so bad?

“I don’t need your help, Link. I… I…” He didn’t need his help. He needed _him_. “I’m fine dealing with this alone.”

Rhett wiped the tears from his eyes (though it was no use; they were still falling and more would simply replace the ones that he removed), and Link decided that he wasn’t going to accept that for an answer. It _was_ an answer, yes, but it was nowhere near good enough. This time, he was going to say whatever it took to get him to admit was happening, and if Rhett stormed out, Link would storm after him.

“I don’t want you to have to deal with it by yourself, Rhett. That’s what best friends are for. To be there for you when you need them.”

“I **don’t** need you,” Rhett growled, though he had to work to keep it from trembling. His voice started to rise and his face began to heat. He wasn’t going to be calm for very much longer. “Can’t you understand that? I ask you time and time again to respect my boundaries and yet, you keep asking!” He stepped closer to Link, even closer than they were already, and if he hadn’t before, Link definitely felt loomed over now. “Don’t you have somebody else to take care of now? Why don’t you go see her again?!”

With those words, everything clicked in Link’s brain. It all suddenly made sense. The way that Rhett avoided him, how they had barely spoken and when they did, it looked as if he was mentally a world away. When he’d wake up in the middle of the night, out of his mind and tired, just to go to the bathroom, and Rhett would come out of it with bloodshot eyes. The fighting and the crying and the vomiting in his bed because he just couldn’t take the pain. All of the pieces fell into place right then and there, and he hated himself for not seeing it sooner.

“You’re upset because I found my soulmate, aren’t you?” he asked, keeping his voice soft and level. There was no sense in both of them getting loud. One of them was more than enough. “You’re sad that I can see color, too, because you hoped I never would.”

Rhett was silent. The only response he gave was clenching his jaw tighter and staring at Link harder, trying with all of his might not to let any other emotion but anger show because if he did, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to feel anything else.

“I’m sorry it worked out this way, Rhett. I really am. All our lives, I’ve wanted to be your soulmate, too. But the universe is cruel, bo. Some people just don’t get their happy endings.”

“I need you to leave,” Rhett said through gritted teeth. He’d never looked so hurt as he did in that moment. “Get out, please. Just go.”

Link was confused at the words. He knew that Rhett needed his space and could tell by the look on his face that he’d just majorly screwed up. But where was he supposed to go? How long was he supposed to stay out? He had a test in the morning! He needed to sleep. What did Rhett expect from him? “But I-”

“Go!”

Link knew that it was the least he could do. He’d already ruined his life enough by not being his soulmate. “Fine.” He, unlike Rhett when _he_ had stormed out, was smart enough to grab a jacket and his books for the morning. “I love you, bo,” he risked, knowing full well that it could make the situation worse. It just didn’t feel right leaving him without saying it, especially in a fit of depression.

But with only that much, he was gone. He’d give Rhett his time if he needed it. He just had to hope he’d be allowed back sooner than later.

* * *

Rhett really did try to get past the fact that Link had found his soulmate and that she was his soulmate, too. Tried to make peace with the fact that his soulmate was unattainable because “the universe is cruel” and he’d never be Link’s **beau.** He’d only be “bo,” and it wouldn’t mean anything more than that he loved him _as a friend._

Even though Link tried to steer clear of the subject because he knew it hurt Rhett, Rhett always asked about Christy every day. He made a point of it, in fact, of listening to whatever the story of the day was. He could get his emotions out about it on his own time. Link deserved support of his blossoming relationship no matter how much it destroyed Rhett to provide, and he was going to give it to him even if it damned him.

But Link, well, he didn’t see it that way. Rhett didn’t deserve to be in pain for his whole life because he wasn’t loved by him in the way he deserved to be loved, because he wasn’t given the happiness that he was rightfully owed. Because things didn’t work out his way. Being friends with him clearly wasn’t enough, and Link could understand that. Having your soulmate next to you your whole life, but being unable to really **have** them... that must be torture.

That, was what went through his brain on his second, third, fourth, fifth date with Christy. He enjoyed spending time with her, yes. He enjoyed her company. She was a nice girl, and she was smart and pretty and funny, too. They did all sorts of entertaining things together, and he’d be a liar if he said that he didn’t want more of her time and a lot of it at that.

But, of course, he couldn’t stop thinking about Rhett. About finding him sick to his stomach and in tears that night, about him needing him to love him but being unable to make it happen. About how he was on nice dates with Christy twice a week and Rhett was at home bawling his eyes out. And eventually, he couldn’t take it anymore. Rhett was too important to him to do this to. He couldn’t let him be destroyed, no matter what his own personal cost, or the cost to Christy, was.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized to his gorgeous date, blonde, green-eyed date. “I’m sorry, but Christy, I’ve got to go.”

She was confused, as she had the right to be. They were having a perfectly nice time at the ice cream parlour, and now, with seemingly no reason, he was bolting?

“I’m sorry, Link. Did I do something wrong?” she asked, her brain telling her that she needed to make sure. She wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if she didn’t. “Are you leaving because of something I said?”

Link’s eyes blew wide open and he held a hand up to assure her of exactly the opposite. “Oh, no. No. Absolutely not. It’s not you. I just… It’s a long story. Want the short version?”

* * *

Link had never sped in his life, always the careful type, but he did tonight to get to Rhett. This was worth getting a ticket over as far as he was concerned.

He practically burst into the dorm when he got there, without so much as a plan for what he wanted to say. He had one basic thought, and that was it, but he knew deep in his bones that it was enough. For the rest, his heart could do the talking.

He found Rhett in his bed again, clutching one of his tee shirts and burying his face in it, taking in the smell of him.

He was on hyper alert and scrambled up when he heard Link come in, immediately apologizing profusely and trying to come up with an excuse, any at all, for why he had done what he had done. There were none.

Thankfully, Link didn’t seem to mind. He just looked so relieved that Rhett was even still there. “No, no. It’s okay. You can stay where you are,” the younger boy- or, man, he supposed- assured, putting a hand out in order to gesture that he should ease back down. “I need to talk to you. Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. You’re home earlier than I expected, though…” Obviously, Rhett. “Did everything go okay on your date?”

“Everything went perfect,” Link said, and it wasn’t a lie. He couldn’t have asked for a more understanding, compassionate soulmate.

_“He’s so sad, Christy. All the time. I can see it in his eyes whenever I look at him. He doesn’t want to talk to me anymore, he barely eats, and he never leaves the dorm except for class. It’s hurting him so bad that I’ve found you and I… I don’t know if I can handle that anymore. I’ve known him since first grade, and he’s somebody I never want to hurt. I like you, don’t get me wrong. I really, really like you. But Rhett… He’s special to me in a way that nobody else can ever be.”_

_Christy took in his words for a long time, not responding until she could think constructively because this affected her, too. Her soulmate cared more deeply for somebody else than he did for her, and she could swear she understood. She wanted to, at least, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. “I think you should go,” but the words weren’t said with malice, “Marathon run to that kid and tell him that you’re willing to love him like you’ve never loved anything or anyone else before. Clearly, it’ll make you happy, and what kind of person would I be if I didn’t want my soulmate to be happy?”_

And it might have made Link a bad person, but that was all he needed. And now, here he was, standing in the middle of his dorm room in the middle of the biggest change of his life, and he couldn’t be more relieved to be able to make it.

“Then why are you home early? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” He wasn’t happy to see him.

This was it. If he said this, then there was no taking it back. He still had the chance to go back and give Christy her happy ending. He could still have _his_ soulmate, because if it wasn’t all, she wanted nothing (and he couldn’t blame her.) But no matter how hard that decision was to make, Rhett would always come first. Not out of obligation, not because he had to, but because Link **wanted** to put him first.

“Because Christy and I had a talk, and we broke up.”

Rhett’s eyes bulged out of his head at the news, and his jaw dropped to the floor. How could Link do that? How could he throw away his soulmate, his life, his happiness, his _color,_  and without talking to him at that?! Had their relationship really, truly, crumbled that much since he met her? But he couldn’t articulate that. All he could ask was, “W-What? Why?”

Link smiled and walked over to the bunks, sitting down after instructing Rhett to make some space for him. “Why? Because I love you, Rhett. I love you and I don’t care about the fact that you’re not my soulmate. As far as I’m concerned, that was just a dumb clerical error because you’re _perfect_ for me. We’ve spent most of our lives together, and I don’t want to spend any more seconds without you. I want to **be** with you, bo. Soulmate or not.”

Rhett took the words in, really tried to absorb them, but he just couldn’t. That was so much contradictory information coming from the man who stood there and told him, _“But the universe is cruel. Some people just don’t get their happy endings.”_ He had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.

“Don't do that,” Link chuckled warmly and grabbed his hands, holding them in his own. Rhett had waited a forever for this to happen. So why was it making him feel sick? “But you said-”

“I know what I said, and I was wrong. I was being selfish. The right thing to do is to give you what you deserve.”

Rhett shook his head, trying to make everything make sense and come up with a response. He was just drawing blanks.

“I’m not taking no for an answer on this one, Rhett, so don’t even think about it. I love you too much to watch you wither while I bloom.”

A moment passed before Rhett finally had something to ask. “But what about your color? You know if you do this and… and Christy doesn’t want to be around you anymore, you’ll lose it. Forever. You’ll go back to seeing in black and white, and you just learned what it all looks like. How could you be willing to, to **want** to give that up?”

“Because I love you,” Link repeated for what must have been the fiftieth time in two minutes, “and I want you to be happy. If happy means me, then it’s me you’ll get. I’ve seen the colors, now, and I’ve spent most of my life in black and white anyway. I can do without them as long as I have you.”

* * *

It wasn't long before Link started to lose his colored sight. A week without Christy, and the big, yellow sun was grey once more. Two weeks, and the water was white. A month, and Rhett was dull, too. His beautiful green eyes and blond hair were nothing more than plain, now, but that was okay. They had each other, and even in the darkness, Rhett’s smile whenever he was around had never shone brighter before. He might be living a grey-scale life, something that most people ran from the very minute that they had the chance, but he couldn’t be more satisfied with it than he was now that he’d seen that there was so much more to this world than _color_. There was **true love**.


End file.
